[singing in hebrew]

>> oh god exalted and full of compassion, grant perfect peace among the holy and the pure to the souls of all of our loved ones that per risched in that horrible day. they have gone to their eternal home, master of mercy, we beseech you, remember all of their worthy and righteous deeds they performed in the land of the living. approximate may their sowls be bound up in the land of life eternal. there is no death, just transformation. may they rest in peace. let us say amen. >> please be seated.

>> let us unite our hearts in prayer. >> oh god of love and mercy, we come before you this night with broken hearts. we offer you our tears and our pain, our anger and our sorrow. oh lord there was a hole so large we wonder if even you in your greatness can fill it it as we grieve and fourn for those who are lost. each light that sits before us is a light that's been lost to our world. so many nnlt, so many breave. lord all we can do is throw

ourselves upon your tender mercies trusting that you hear our prayers. we know those who are lost because their ours lord, not names on some list but our mothers or sisters, our brothers or friends, kindred all because if we did not know them ourselves we know someone who did. and so we pray, lord, for all the sowls lost and families and friends who are torn by grief. for in this moment we are all your children. a family related by your love. so help us to care for these families in their sorrow and

for each other in ours. may they feel the healing embrace of a neighborhood, a town, a state, a nation, a world. help to us forever remember that we embrace the grieving as our own and bring us together as one family to live together in peace and am ity. help to us share the lights that stand before us. help to us carry them out into this world and share it with a world so in sorrow and so in need. we pray all of this in the name of your love as we all say amen .

>> we invite with you to join with us in falm 23 in however you know it in your heart.

it doesn't have to be the words we are offering here. the lord is my shepherd i shall not want which he make eth me to lay down in green pass chures. he lead eth me beside still waters. he restore eth my soul. yay though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil. for thousand art with me. think rod and they staff they comfort me. thousand preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enmies. thousand annointest my head with oil, my cup run eth over. surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever.

>> let us pray. god in heaven, we thank you for your presence with us here on earth. we know that the children who were lost in this tragedy first belonged to you before they belonged to us. and we commit their souls to you, to your loving eternal care. we thank you lord that they are now in a place of no more sickness, no more sadness, no more suffering and no more sorrow as there is finally no more sin in the presence of you , their savior and ours. dear lord as we leave the

children we have lost in your hands, we ask that by your grace, you would empower us to bless and comfort the children who are still here in our hands. blees be with them in a special way as they grieve the losses of siblings and friends. life will never be the same for them. and we ask that you would help these precious little ones to carry the spirits of their lost loved ones in their hearts as they go along living their lives to its fullest according to your will for each of these girls and boys. and lord, we ask most of all that you would use us to be a source of your healing in the

midst of their wounds, that you would use those of us whose children are crying for hope as a source of your hope in the midst of any hopelessness as you are the god of hope. use us to replace their anxiety with your peace as you are the god of peace. and please fill their hearts with the sense of your love, your presence, your power, and most of all a sense of your care. not knowing what the future holds but knowing that you hold it as you hold these precious little ones who are still with us today in your hands through our hands.

and lord, we ask this all in the name of the one who said unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the kingdom of god. make us all child like and not childish in our thoughts and our words, in our attitudes and actions and behave yors, not only before others but before you that we may look to you for better days ahead and that we may fulfill your purpose for us on this earth. for we pray all of this in the name of our precious lord and savior jesus, amen.

[singing]

>> in the name of god, the compassionate and the merciful, the muslim community throughout the nation joins with our fellow americans grieving for those who died in this tragedy and praying for their families. we ask god to grant those lost a special aplace in paradise

and we ask their families to be granted the strength to endure the unendureable. it is in such times of almost unbearable loss that we seek the comfort with our creator and that artificial divisions of faith fall away to reveal a nation of mothers and father's, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, all united in a desire to bring healing and renewed hope. islam's revealed text tells us that god's mercy and compassion are without limit and all the available for those who ask. god says when my serve vants question you about me, tell them that i am near. i answer the prayer of every person who calls on me, chapter 2, verse 186.

god also says give glad tied togs those who endure with patience when aflicted with calamity say we belong to god and to him we shall return. those are the people upon are blessings from god. so let us all of every faith of every background pray for god's comfort at this time of heart breaking tragedy. with every difficult there is ees, barely, with every difficulty there is ease. amen. >> a prayer for the first responders, let us pray. >> holy god, many of these men

and women you called into service when they were just children. they wanted to be police officers and firefighters and care for those that were in need, lord. you gave them gifts for their life to serve. you asked them to pay a high price for all the skills that they have been given, for the strength that they have. you equipped them, you gave them a willingness to learn, to train, to study. you gave them a willingness to serve in the middle of the night when a call would come in.

and you gave them the willingness to respond when this town needed them the most. lord, we thank you for those in this town that responded, but we thank you also for those throughout the state that came when the need was given. we thank you, lord, for their gifts and their strength and their courage. so we ask you lord to walk with them in the days ahead, to surround them with your angels, to give them people who will listen to their story, to listen to what they saw that was not for anyone to ever see. lord, we place each and every one of these men and women in

your care. but we will be faithful to them. we will care for them, we will continue to equip them and we will keep them ever in our prayers, amen.

>> for the mothers and the father's and the brothers and sisters and grand parns --

grandparents, for all of you today, this is part of the sacred text. it was written as a letter to a mother who was mourning the loss of her child. i adapted it for this evening. >> although the loss of a child is indeed heart breaking and beyond the limits of human endurance, one who know eth and understand eth is assured that the child has not been lost, but rather has stepped from this world to another and you will find them in the i did have vine realm. that reunion shall be for eternity. while in this world separation is inevitable and bring with it a burning grief. praise be unto god that

thousand has faith, our turning think fice toward the ever lasting kingdom and believe in the existence of a heavenly world. do not languish, do not sy, negotiate wail nor weep, for agitation and mourning deeply affect the soul, their soul in the divine realm. >> the beloved child address thee from the hidden world, oh kind mother and father, thank divine providence that i have been freed from a small and gloomy cage and like the birds of the meadows have sword to the divine world, a world which is spacious, i lumened and ever

joyceous and jub lent. la meant not mother and father and be not greaved, aim not of the lost nor have i been obliterated and destroyed. i have shaken off the mortal form. following this separation is ever lasting companionship. thousand shalt find me in the heaven of the lord i mersed in an ocean of light. >> think god, we call you by many names, great spirit,

higher power, divine one, but however we address you, you are always father and mother to us all. and we are your children, we are your family. we ask your blessing lord upon the counselors and the clergy and all the care givers among us, they have great passion for what they do. and when everyone does their passion, we arrive at compassion. and we thank you. we know that you're most aware of their needs. they too become tired and sometimes close to burning out, how much we need one another.

when you call jeremiah or am months and all your precious apostle's and prof fets, they hedged at first, but each time in turn they gave their yes and they followed you knowing that you were always among them, always supporting them. they were conduits for your eyes and ears and voice and hands. they were the clay knowing that you always were the potter and they were resilient in your hands. when jesus felt the need to get away for some respite himself he went to the mountains or into the wilderness or out to the seashore and the great numbers of people in need

always followed. tired and drained as he was, he looked on them with compassion. annoint all your people, lord, all those who minister to you as they minister to one another especially this week as they minister to the body, mind and spirit, to the whole community of sandy hook and newtown, a model for the nation, a model for the world. and we thank you for the world support, calling, e-mailing, texting their love and their commitment to be with us.

use them, lord, take the passion that each one has and transform it totally, completely into your spirit of compassion. and we ask this all, amen, amen.

>> newtown is a place that loves children above all. families move to newtown because we are a caring and loving community. we are also a place that has great pride in our schools, pride that propel it is students in those schools with their outstanding teachers and

administrators to high achievement and great personal worth. the horror that was visited upon our sandy hook school was not deserved. it is the angry and desperate act of a confused young man. there is no blame to be laid on us. but there is a great burden and a great challenge that these families devastated by unspeakable harm know and trust that we love them and will do everything we can to help them heal. i know that newtown will prevail, that will not fall to abilities of violence. it is a defining moment for our town, but it does not define us. we are newtown, a special and caring place. we are defined by acts of courage, by acts of love and by

our continuing commitment and love for our children and families. it is my pleasure to present to you ladies and gentlemen, governor dan malloy. [applause] pat, thank you for all of the great work that have you done for this community in the last three days to the police chief and the superintendent of schools, thank you for your great service as well to all of the first responders, thank you. when i came in to the hall, one of the first songs to be played

was amazing grace which is fitting for any number of reasons. it's become an anthem for first responders. it has great words. it also speaks of the power of faith. amazing grace was written by a former sea captain engaged in the slave trade. and those profound words that i once was lost and now am found speak to us on a day like today when we are called upon, ner i say required to be invested in our faith, in this room and in this community at this time. a faith that is after all at

its very core a gift from god. a faith in which we find comfort and hope and compassion . a faith in which we are given power to go on, to survive that which has befall thn community, these families, these spouses, that which has happened and is unimagineable and unthinkable and was never we thought intended to be upon us in connecticut or in newtown or in sandy hook. i choose to think about the fact that in the coming days we will officially enter winter. and that is always to be

followed by the spring. let me assure you that in winter each time i see the beginning of a snowfall, i will be thinking of those 27 souls lost just a few days ago. each time the day gets a little longer, i will think and dream of the lives that might have been and the lives that were so full of grace. and when the flowers start to come out of the ground and when they rise up, i will know that we are in touch with those that we have lost in the last few days. we will go on, we will find strength. faith is a gift as is our

ability to support one another in our greater community. to all of you, i extend my most profound condolences on behalf of all of your fellow citizens for what you have seen, for what you have witnessed and for what have you personally experienced. we will move on, we will never forget, we will in many ways be made stronger for what has transpired and we will get better. we are blessed today to have with us the president of the united states who upon meeting with pat and i just a little while ago said that the most difficult day of his presidency was friday when he heard the news of that which had befallen this community. i assured him that connecticut,

newtown and sandy hook are strong. and i welcomed him on your behalf to our community. i now introduce the president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you governor. to all the families, first responders, to the community of

newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us to not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for light and memo entear troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that out weighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. for we know that the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from god,

the eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. we gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and 6 remarkable adults. they lost their lives in a school that could have been any school, in a quiet town full of good and decent people, that could be any town in america. here in newtown, i come to offer the love and players of a nation -- prayers of a nation. i am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. i can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief.

our world too has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours we have we want with you. we pulled our children tight. and you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide, whatever portion of sadness we this are with you to ease heavy load, we will gladly bear it. newtown, you are not alone. as these difficult days have unfolded, you've also inspired us with stories of strength and

resolve and sacrifice. we know that when dange area riveed in the halls of sandy hook elementary, the school staff did not flinch, they did not hesitate. they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love giving their lives to protect the children in their carry -- care. we know there were other

teachers who bar caded themselves inside class rooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying wait for the good guys, they are coming. show me your smile. and we know that good guys came. the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm's way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma because they had a job to do. and others needed them more. and then there were the scenes of the school children helping one another, holding each other , dutyfully following

instructions the way sometimes young children do. one child even trying to encourage a grown up saying i know karate so it's okay, i'll lead the way out. as a community, you've inspired us, newtown, in the face of indescribeable violence, in the face of unconsciousable evil, you've looked out for each other and you've cared for one another and you've loved one another. this is now newtown will be remembered. and with time and god's grace, that love will see you through. but we as a nation, we are left

with some hard questions. someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time walking around. with their very first cry, this most precious vital part of ourselves, our child is suddenly exposed to the world, possible mishap or malice. and every parent knows there is nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. and yet we also know that with that child's very first step

and each step after that they are separating from us, that we can't always be there for them. they'll surf sickness and set backs and broken hearts and disappointments. and we learn that our most important job to give them what they need to be self-reliant and capable and resilient and ready to face the world without fear. and we know we can't do this by ourselves. it comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can't do it by yourself. this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them

well is something we can only do together with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation. and in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child because we are counting on everybody else to help look after ours. we are all parents, they are all our children. this is our first task, caring for our children. it's our first job. if we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. that's how as a society we will be judged. and by that measure, can we

truly say as a nation that we are meeting our obligations? can we honestly say that we are doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? can we claim as a nation that we're all together there letting them know that they are loved and teaching them to love in return? can we say that we're truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness wand purpose? i've been reflecting on this the last few days and if we're hon nist with ourselves, the answer is no.

we're not doing enough and we will have to change. since i've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings. the fourth time we've hugged survivors, the fourth time we've con sold the families of victims. and in between there have been an end lesserries of shooltings across the country and many of them children in small towns and big cities all across america, victims who much of the time their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. we can't tolerate this anymore. these tragedies must end.

and to end them, we must change . we will be told ha the causes of such violence are complex and that is true. no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. but that can't be an excuse for inaction. surely we can do better than this. if there is even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that has visited tucson and aurora and oak creek and newtown and communities from column bine before that then surely we have

an obligation to try. in the coming weeks i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizen frs law enforcement to mental health professionals to parent and educate tors in an effort amed at preventing more tragedies like this because what choice do we have? we can't accept events like this as row teen. are we really prepared to say that we are powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? are we prepared to say such violence visited upon our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

in all the world's relidgenses so many of them represented here today start with a simple question, why are we here? what gives our life meaning? what gives our acts purpose? we know our time on this earth is fleeting. we know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal whether it's wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will in some fashion fall short of what we had hoped. we know that no matter how good

our intentions we'll all stumble sometimes in some way, we'll make mistakes, we'll experience hardships and even when we're trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness so often unable to discern god's heavenly plans. there is only one thing we can be sure of and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. the warmth of a small child's embrace, that is true. the memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fears and boundless

love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger. we know that's what matters. we know we're always doing right when we're taking care of them whrks we're teaching them well, when we're showing acts of kindness. we don't go wrong when we do that. that's what we can be sure of. and that's what you, the people of newtown, have reminded us. that's how you've inspired us. you remind us what matters. that's what should drive us forward in everything we do for

as long as god sees fit to keep us on this earth. threat little children come to me jesus said and do not hinder them for to such belong it is kingdom of heaven. charlotte, daniel, olivia, joseph phone, anna, dillon, madelyn, katherine, chase, jesse, james, grace, emily, jack, noah, car line, jessica,

benjamin, alley son, god has called them all home. for those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. may god bless and keep those we've lost in his heavenly place. may he grace those we still have with his holy comfort and may he bless and watch over this community and the united states of america. [applause]

>> on behalf of the newtown

clergy association we are so grateful to our president for spending time was and for reminding us that we are not alone in this time of tragedy, that there is not just a country standing behind us, that there is a world standing behind us. those words as difficult as they were to hear for some brought consolation to some. i want to thank the government officials who have been by our side since day one. they have reminded us of their humanity and care for us. i want to thank an incredible select woman who has led us through the most dark periods of our lives. [applause] .

when storms of the past years ravished our community for power for days i thought those were the hardest. when i saw her friday in front of sandy hook school. i knew she had met the darkest days. we thank you for being leaders to us through these difficult times. and now this final part of our splare for us, the people of newtown. >> these are the words of the apostal paul as he writes to the church at rome. what shall we say in response to this, if god is for us, who can be against us. he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for all of us. how will he graciously give us

all things. who will bring any charge against those god has chosen, it is god who just fice, who is he that condemns? christ jesus who died, more than that who was raced to life is at the right-hand of god is also interseeding for us. who shall separate us from the love of christ, shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nackedness or danger or sword? as it is written for your sake we face death all day long, we are considered sheep to be slaughtered. we are more than conquerers for him who loved us. i am convinced that negotiate death nor life, negotiate angels or deem mons negotiate height nor death nor anything else in all creation will be tible separate us from the love

of god that is in christ jesus our lord. >> so we stand now in prayer for ourselves. our hearts are broken but our spirits are strengthened by the power of god's goonsd and his ever creating love and by the generous hearts of a community who truly cares. we have shown to the world our compassion. you have placed on our shoulders a burden of unimaginable pain. to make of this world a place of justice, of peace of truth for our people, especially for our young. we thank you this night for our community leaders who have walked a dark road helping us find a light.